6 ms·

Will he be tried by a common jury or a military one? No way a common jury finds him guilty.

by janmo 5y ago

supergirl 5y ago
there is no way he will ever be free. it's just 1 man vs multiple governments. US gov is in no rush to bring it to trial. they'll keep him in solitary to die waiting for a trial that will never come
- janmo 5y ago
  I can only hope that they'll find him not guilty completely ridiculing the government and all those who were behind his prosecution.
- pmyteh 5y ago
  He's entitled to a trial within 70 days of his first appearance in the US, if he demands one. Speedy Trial Act of 1974.
  - antocv 5y ago
    70 days is according to the new definition of very long days about 35 years
  - jessaustin 5y ago
    If he does eventually leave UK, we should all pray he does actually appear in USA at some point. Lots of "enemies" just disappear. This man is not a USA citizen, and was not in USA when he did the journalism that so offends the USA deep state. He will be extradited for purely political "crimes". Let's not pretend anymore that any of us live in societies governed by laws.
  - kingcharles 5y ago
    LOL. I've been waiting almost 9 years on a 120 day Speedy Trial. While you are 100% technically correct (minus COVID extensions), the defense team will need a bunch of extensions to go through everything and file motions. And that is where the delays will come from - the prosecutor and judge will make sure any motions take years to process and he'll languish in jail for infinity. He won't get a bond either because of all the stuff that happened with the Bolivian Embassy.
    - pmyteh 5y ago
      Agreed. But "in front of a jury quickly" might be forensically a better idea than "wait in jail for years" while the prosecutor drags things out. [Edit: assuming that his team are confident in getting at least one vote to acquit from somebody angry] Personally, I don't think we should extradite him simply because it's arguably a political 'crime'. The US/UK extradition treaty is so one-sided, though, and British extradition law so Executive-friendly, that that is essentially an impossible case to win if the Secretary of State wants to extradite.
JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> Will he be tried by a common jury or a military one? He is charged and being extradited under criminal code. As a non-combatant, I don't think he could be charged by an Article I court.
hutzlibu 5y ago
"No way a common jury finds him guilty." Quick search for numbers show: "53% of Americans say Julian Assange should be extradited to America" https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/04/11/julian-assange-wikileaks-arrested-poll-survey https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/20...
- vinay427 5y ago
  Exactly, with this relatively low support for extradition it would be surprising to see a jury conviction. And that's with abuse of the jury selection process, presumably in both directions.
  - ceejayoz 5y ago
    I think it's a little silly to extrapolate from a general opinion poll to a trial result. An honest poll on this subject would result in about 99% "I don't know much of anything about him", and jury selection is intended to find people without a set opinion already.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
> No way a common jury finds him guilty I wish I could still have your faith in my fellow countrymen. Sadly I believe yours won't survive this trial.
- tyingq 5y ago
  Assuming he gets to trial, and has lawyers that understand how to use the media, I think it may be difficult to convince the entire jury to prosecute. Rehashing US war crimes, which would certainly come up, won't be great for the prosecution either.
  - shkkmo 5y ago
    > Rehashing US war crimes, which would certainly come up, won't be great for the prosecution either. Assuming the judge doesn't block that line of argument.
    - tyingq 5y ago
      He's charged with espionage for material related to a war crime. It's not a peripheral issue.
      - shkkmo 5y ago
        I've seen "non peripheral issues" blocked by hostile judges in plenty of cases, especially cases when classified information comes into play. I hope you're right, but think the USA will make sure this is heard by a judge who will happily toe their line.
      - boomboomsubban 5y ago
        Ellsberg was not permitted to mention what was released in his defense, Assange likely won't either.
  - delusional 5y ago
    Almost 50% of Americans voted for Trump. Almost 50% did it again a second time. It's not that Voting for Trump is in any way related to being against Assange (It's my understanding that Wikileaks is well liked within that community), but I've learned to to speculate on what Americans might do. I've taken to just expecting the worst possible outcome from any decision.
the_optimist 5y ago
They apparently plan to stick him in the court in East Virginia, which is effectively an intelligence court given the group of people who live in that region and the political bias. He will not receive a fair trial.
sleepysysadmin 5y ago
>Will he be tried by a common jury or a military one? No way a common jury finds him guilty. Neither. This is the Espionage Act, so he's going to the spy court. Those doors will be closed and the jury will consist of people who work for the government. The court case will be over way way faster than you might expect.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > so he's going to the spy court No, he isn’t going to a FISA court, those don’t try criminal cases…
  - sleepysysadmin 5y ago
    >No, he isn’t going to a FISA court, those don’t try criminal cases… Never said he was. He's going to the spy court in virginia. It's obviously not something you list on wikipedia. FISA is too monitored. The court he'll be going to always sides with the government. Assange is going to the same place Daniel Hale, Chelsea Manning, Paul Manafort, various terrorists. I wonder if Assange will ever see if he is guilty or not. Epstein treatment incoming. Though I do believe he will be treated properly, no enhanced torture or anything.
    - ceejayoz 5y ago
      Manning was court martialed, in Maryland. Manafort and Hale weren't tried in any sort of special court, and it's definitely on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Virginia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_f.... Manafort proceedings were public; reporters live-tweeted it. Hale pled guilty pre-trial.

Will he be tried by a common jury or a military one? No way a common jury finds him guilty.

by janmo 5y ago

Will he be tried by a common jury or a military one? No way a common jury finds him guilty.

there is no way he will ever be free. it's just 1 man vs multiple governments. US gov is in no rush to bring it to trial. they'll keep him in solitary to die waiting for a trial that will never come

janmo 5y ago
I can only hope that they'll find him not guilty completely ridiculing the government and all those who were behind his prosecution.
pmyteh 5y ago
He's entitled to a trial within 70 days of his first appearance in the US, if he demands one. Speedy Trial Act of 1974.
- antocv 5y ago
  70 days is according to the new definition of very long days about 35 years
- jessaustin 5y ago
  If he does eventually leave UK, we should all pray he does actually appear in USA at some point. Lots of "enemies" just disappear. This man is not a USA citizen, and was not in USA when he did the journalism that so offends the USA deep state. He will be extradited for purely political "crimes". Let's not pretend anymore that any of us live in societies governed by laws.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  LOL. I've been waiting almost 9 years on a 120 day Speedy Trial. While you are 100% technically correct (minus COVID extensions), the defense team will need a bunch of extensions to go through everything and file motions. And that is where the delays will come from - the prosecutor and judge will make sure any motions take years to process and he'll languish in jail for infinity. He won't get a bond either because of all the stuff that happened with the Bolivian Embassy.
  - pmyteh 5y ago
    Agreed. But "in front of a jury quickly" might be forensically a better idea than "wait in jail for years" while the prosecutor drags things out. [Edit: assuming that his team are confident in getting at least one vote to acquit from somebody angry] Personally, I don't think we should extradite him simply because it's arguably a political 'crime'. The US/UK extradition treaty is so one-sided, though, and British extradition law so Executive-friendly, that that is essentially an impossible case to win if the Secretary of State wants to extradite.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago

> Will he be tried by a common jury or a military one? He is charged and being extradited under criminal code. As a non-combatant, I don't think he could be charged by an Article I court.

hutzlibu 5y ago

"No way a common jury finds him guilty." Quick search for numbers show: "53% of Americans say Julian Assange should be extradited to America" https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/04/11/julian-assange-wikileaks-arrested-poll-survey https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/20...

vinay427 5y ago
Exactly, with this relatively low support for extradition it would be surprising to see a jury conviction. And that's with abuse of the jury selection process, presumably in both directions.
- ceejayoz 5y ago
  I think it's a little silly to extrapolate from a general opinion poll to a trial result. An honest poll on this subject would result in about 99% "I don't know much of anything about him", and jury selection is intended to find people without a set opinion already.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

> No way a common jury finds him guilty I wish I could still have your faith in my fellow countrymen. Sadly I believe yours won't survive this trial.

tyingq 5y ago
Assuming he gets to trial, and has lawyers that understand how to use the media, I think it may be difficult to convince the entire jury to prosecute. Rehashing US war crimes, which would certainly come up, won't be great for the prosecution either.
- shkkmo 5y ago
  > Rehashing US war crimes, which would certainly come up, won't be great for the prosecution either. Assuming the judge doesn't block that line of argument.
  - tyingq 5y ago
    He's charged with espionage for material related to a war crime. It's not a peripheral issue.
    - shkkmo 5y ago
      I've seen "non peripheral issues" blocked by hostile judges in plenty of cases, especially cases when classified information comes into play. I hope you're right, but think the USA will make sure this is heard by a judge who will happily toe their line.
    - boomboomsubban 5y ago
      Ellsberg was not permitted to mention what was released in his defense, Assange likely won't either.
- delusional 5y ago
  Almost 50% of Americans voted for Trump. Almost 50% did it again a second time. It's not that Voting for Trump is in any way related to being against Assange (It's my understanding that Wikileaks is well liked within that community), but I've learned to to speculate on what Americans might do. I've taken to just expecting the worst possible outcome from any decision.

the_optimist 5y ago

They apparently plan to stick him in the court in East Virginia, which is effectively an intelligence court given the group of people who live in that region and the political bias. He will not receive a fair trial.

sleepysysadmin 5y ago

>Will he be tried by a common jury or a military one? No way a common jury finds him guilty. Neither. This is the Espionage Act, so he's going to the spy court. Those doors will be closed and the jury will consist of people who work for the government. The court case will be over way way faster than you might expect.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> so he's going to the spy court No, he isn’t going to a FISA court, those don’t try criminal cases…
- sleepysysadmin 5y ago
  >No, he isn’t going to a FISA court, those don’t try criminal cases… Never said he was. He's going to the spy court in virginia. It's obviously not something you list on wikipedia. FISA is too monitored. The court he'll be going to always sides with the government. Assange is going to the same place Daniel Hale, Chelsea Manning, Paul Manafort, various terrorists. I wonder if Assange will ever see if he is guilty or not. Epstein treatment incoming. Though I do believe he will be treated properly, no enhanced torture or anything.
  - ceejayoz 5y ago
    Manning was court martialed, in Maryland. Manafort and Hale weren't tried in any sort of special court, and it's definitely on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Virginia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_f.... Manafort proceedings were public; reporters live-tweeted it. Hale pled guilty pre-trial.